Al capone shines my shoes by Gennifer Choldenko

Author:Gennifer Choldenko [Gennifer Choldenko]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Jeunesse
ISBN: 9780803734609
Published: 2009-09-08T07:00:00+00:00

20.

WELKUM HOM NADALEE

Friday, September 6, 1935

Nat and my parents are supposed to be on the 4:00 ferry. Theresa, Jimmy, and I are all down waiting for her. Theresa has made a sign. Welkum hom Nadalee, it says in pencil with glued-on buttons. My mom got a store-bought lemon cake and I borrowed some of Jimmy’s fly harness thread and made Natalie a bracelet.

“Scout be over this weekend?” Jimmy asks as we watch a large fishing boat scoot across the calm water, making a perfect wake, two white lines in the blue.

“Nope.”

“You going to Scout’s?” Jimmy freezes, waiting for my answer.

“Nope,” I say.

Jimmy’s head dips down. I don’t see him smile, but his dimple is showing. “You should see how many flies I have now. Maybe fifty thousand.”

“Fifty thousand flies? No kidding?” I ask, scratching my leg, which is driving me crazy. I hope the hives aren’t coming back.

Jimmy nods. “They move around so much it’s hard to count. Think Natalie could do it.”

“If anyone can count fifty thousand flies, it’s Natalie.”

Jim’s brown eyes are full of excitement. “That’s what I figured.”

“You find out any more about who got our dads on probation?” I ask.

“My mom thinks it’s Piper,” Jimmy says.

“Everybody thinks it’s Piper,” Theresa chimes in.

“Piper wouldn’t do anything that bad.”

Theresa and Jimmy look at each other.

“You got to go talk to her,” Jimmy says.

“Why me? You’re the one who told her about the secret crawlspace.”

Jimmy scoffs. “From what I heard, you didn’t seem to mind too much.”

I look at Theresa. “You weren’t going to tell anyone, remember?”

“Jimmy isn’t anyone,” Theresa informs me.

Jimmy snorts. “Thanks, Theresa,” he says.

“Oh look, Natalie’s coming!” Theresa points at the ferry, which is headed toward us, a flock of birds flying above it.

The boat is streaming across the water. The sun is shining through the clouds, making the wake sparkle. My dad is handsome in his officer’s uniform. My mom is wearing her good green coat. Nat is sitting with her head down like she’s reading. From a distance they look normal.

“Your dad talk to the warden?” Jimmy asks as Mr. Mattaman, who is acting buck sergeant, jumps on the dock. He still has the same duties when he’s on probation; they just check on him all the time, like he’s a junior officer again.

“I dunno, but he’s not worried. He thinks it was only a mistake.”

Jimmy shakes his head. “You’re just like your dad, you know that?” he snips.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I ask as my father carries Natalie’s suitcase with Natalie Flanagan written on all sides. He’s kidding around with her, pretending to drop her suitcase in the bay. My mother doesn’t like this. I can tell by the way her hands are on her hips that she’s bawling him out.

Natalie says something to my dad that makes him laugh all the more. He hands her back her suitcase.

“Hey kids.” Mr. Mattaman comes up behind us.

Trixle is up in the guard tower. Natalie and my dad come across the gangplank. Natalie is not looking down at her feet like she usually does.

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